So this chapter was actually pretty difficult to write. It's deceptively hard to get all the details just how you want them especially when you have to juggle writing with everything else life throws at you. I promise you'll enjoy its juiciness, though. Enjoy!
CW: sexual assault, drugging
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Dreamer Boy
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Chapter 11
"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." –Albert Einstein
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When Roxas woke up, not only was Sora's arm still around him, but one of Sora's legs was also now intertwined with his, their feet touching underneath the blanket. Roxas himself had shifted slightly towards Sora in his sleep, ending up in something akin to a fetal position and thereby designating the blonde as little spoon in the endeavor. Roxas would've been content to stay there even longer, but Sora had somehow suddenly turned into Riku and was now poised ready to stab the blonde with the kitchen knife that magically appeared in his hand. Roxas screamed, putting his arms up in defense….
"Whoa, man, you alright?"
Roxas opened his eyes to find Sora (thanking the powers that be that it actually was Sora) standing over him with a concerned look on his face.
"Yeah," Roxas replied with a heavy sigh. "Guess I was just having a nightmare."
"I'll say. The last time I've ever seen anyone scream like that was when a centipede got in Xion's hair."
"No way! How did that happen?!"
Sora shuffled his feet awkwardly. "I kinda may have put it there."
Roxas bawled with laughter. "Oh my God, that's hilarious! You're such an ass!"
"I know, I try," Sora responded, now laughing as well. "By the way, sorry I kinda slept in your bed last night. Whenever Riku and I hang out at one of our houses, we usually just share a bed because we stay up so late, and I guess half-asleep me just assumed that was the case."
"That's fine, man, I understand," Roxas said. As if I didn't wish we were still in bed together.
"Oh, and in case I got really close to you last night, I'm sorry for that, too. I'm famous in my family for cuddling with pillows in my sleep, but if there's another person in the bed with me, I sometimes substitute them for my pillow."
"Nah, that didn't happen, you're good." I'm a horrible fucking person.
"Awesome. I hope you don't mind, but I've also already taken my shower."
Roxas shrugged as he got out of his bed and started to make it. "I don't mind. If you wanna sit here and watch T.V. or something, I'll take mine right quick, and then we can go downstairs and get breakfast."
"Sounds good to me," Sora said as he grabbed the remote off the TV stand.
Roxas grabbed a pair of underwear and a pair grey jeans and went across the hall to his bathroom. Still somewhat convinced that the beautiful boy in his bedroom was a figment of his imagination, he repictured the scene from his dream (without the whole Riku-with-a-knife part) as he undressed, his skin positively electric as he imagined being Sora's snuggle-toy. Unfortunately, his daydream was abruptly interrupted when he hit his head hard on the cabinet above the sink, causing him to swear loudly and thereby earn a shrill "ROXAS!" from Shera who was somewhere downstairs.
Roxas turned the water on, leaping back a bit when the cold water splashed on his feet. When the water finally got hot, he put his head under the running water and reveled in the sheer comfort it brought him, imagining the water trickling down his back as Sora's impossibly soft fingers stroking him to sleep. The blonde didn't realize it at first, but the shower still had traces of Sora's scent (the brunet had apparently brought his shampoo and whatnot with him as well) that were carried back up into the air and enhanced by the steam's rapid. The aroma was strong enough that Roxas could actually discern its components: lavender, cherry blossoms, damp pine needles, and a hint of oranges. The gentle caress of the brunet's shampoo strangely soothed and excited Roxas at the same time as his hand slowly moved further down his body…
No, no, what the hell am I doing?! I can't treat him like he's just some sexual fantasy!
Out of shame, Roxas sped through his normal shower routine, and in a matter of about 5 minutes he was already drying himself off with his towel. He put his underpants and jeans on before catching a look at himself in the mirror: the blonde's abdomen was just a light blue now, his right eye was almost completely healed, and the scars that ran the length of his arms were practically invisible to anyone who didn't know they were there beforehand. Roxas felt each wound tenderly, grateful for how the pain and circumstances of each one brought him this close to the beautiful brunet in the other room. He futilely attempted to fix his hair into some other shape, any other shape, before returning to his room.
"That was quick," Sora remarked with a smirk as he watched the shirtless blonde walked through the door. "I figured you were the kind of guy who would masturbate in the shower."
Roxas's heart sank. "No, of course not. I could never do something…umm…something like that."
Sora laughed. "You don't sound so sure about that. It's not like you have to be ashamed or anything. It's healthy."
"Oh, c'mon. Surely you don't think there's a single person on this planet who masturbates for the health benefits?"
"I suppose that's true," the brunet replied, now laughing harder.
"Boys! Aerith! Breakfast!" Shera called from the kitchen.
"Sounds like that's your cue to finally put the rest of your clothes on, Shirtless Boy Wonder," Sora teased.
"I'll eat breakfast with one on when you sleep with one on," Roxas teased back as he went and pulled an old band shirt out of his dresser. The blonde could've sworn he saw Sora blush as he was putting his shirt on; however, the brunet's face showed no signs of embarrassment when Roxas's head popped out the top.
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Sora was thoroughly impressed by Shera's pancakes, claiming they were far and away better than anything Aerith had ever cooked for breakfast and thereby earning himself a horrifying glare from his sister. Shera was so delighted that she gave him all the seconds in response, earning a few loud complaints from Cid and Cloud as well as a raised eyebrow from Aerith ("He does this all the time when our mom cooks, it's not even subtle," she whispered to Roxas). Amazingly enough, Sora's bottomless stomach was also accompanied by a ridiculously fast eating pace, enabling the two boys to still have plenty of time to get ready and go to school. Roxas unfortunately didn't share any classes with the brunet, so the two bade farewell to each other for the time being once they arrived in the school parking lot.
After suffering through Maleficent's Chemistry class and cautiously avoiding any more explosions, Roxas quickly made his way to English to flaunt his success in Olette's face. However, the brunette didn't even raise her head off of her desk to acknowledge his arrival when the blonde entered the room.
"You alright, Olette?" Roxas queried as he sat down.
"Yeah, just that my worst nightmare came true just now," Olette replied from her face-down position.
"Well, go on, spill the beans."
"Hayner came over here a minute ago and asked if a friend of mine was single or not."
Roxas raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Holy shit. I bet that hurt."
"Not as much as my forehead right now."
"Then get your head off the desk, doofus. Who'd he ask about anyways?"
Olette lifted her head off of the desk and gave him a melancholy look. "I meant it when I said my 'worst nightmare.'"
Roxas pondered her words for a bit before a light bulb turned on in his head. "You mean he asked about a guy?!"
Olette's expression didn't change.
"Oh my God…was it me?"
"Ding ding ding, five points for you," Olette said as she returned her head to her desk.
"Damn, I'm sorry. I mean, it's odd enough that someone finds me attractive, but the guy just so happens to be YOUR crush? God is such a dick."
"Tell me about it."
Roxas put his hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Did he say he was fully gay, bisexual, just wanting to experiment, or what?" The spiteful look Olette immediately shot the blonde made him hastily add, "I mean, umm, not that I'm interested in him back or anything. I just wanted to know if you still had a chance."
"He said he was bisexual," Olette responded, her expression changing from hatred to slight annoyance, "but that he wasn't completely sure. Someone apparently told him that you were gay, and he wanted to know if you were 'available to help him figure it all out.'"
"Oh, well that's, umm, interesting. I, uh, don't really think it works that way, but I promise I'll talk to him about it when I get a chance. Just talk, I swear."
"If you say so."
The sound of the door lightly closing shut as Lulu walked Michael Myers-style to the front of the room signaled the end of all present opportunities to talk to or about Hayner. Roxas couldn't help but look over at the rebelliously dressed boy ever so slightly whenever Lulu had her back turned, often catching the dirty blonde already looking at him before quickly turning his head back to the white board in futile attempts to avoid suspicion. Roxas wondered if this was the kind of situation that made people on TV, people in movies, or his own father say they "needed a cigarette."
Lulu, in a rare gesture of kindness, thankfully let class out slightly early, giving both Roxas and Olette plenty of time to bolt and avoid further awkwardness. When they arrived at the lunch room and got their food ("Thank God it's pizza day, I needed this so badly," Roxas heard Olette whisper to herself), they went to sat down at their usual table but were surprised upon discovering the Leonhart twins were already sitting there.
"Yo, Roxie and Ollie, what's up?" Sora exclaimed with a smile when they arrived, earning him two fiery glares that quickly made his smile disappear and Xion bust out laughing.
"Same old, same old," Roxas responded as he sat down next to the brunet and across from the raven-haired girl. "What brings you two here away from your usual table?"
"Riku acshually showed up today, but he'sh bein' a bishy lil prick fer shum reashon," Xion answered with her mouth full of pizza. She swallowed before adding, "We thought we'd show him how we don't appreciate it by sitting with you two instead before he got here, especially considering how we were going to invite you to sit with us today anyways. You don't mind if we all sit here, do you?"
This'll make that silver-haired asshole think about his actions alright. "No, that's fine, go ahead," Roxas said as he opened his milk carton.
Olette began catching the twins up on the "Hayner situation" as she had started calling it, being careful to leave out the Roxas part. Shortly thereafter, Kairi arrived at the table, formally introduced herself to Roxas, and joined the conversation.
"All the cute ones are gay," the red-haired girl complained, causing Roxas and, for some reason, Sora to nearly choke on their food.
"Are you implying that I'm not cute?" the brunet inquired with his angelic, signature pout on display.
Kairi rolled her eyes and giggled. "THAT'S not what I'm implying in the slightest," she teased as the other two girls began giggling as well.
Sora and Kairi bickered back and forth at each other and provided plenty of entertainment for the other three teens as more and more people came over to their table to the point that spare tables were dragged together to keep accommodating them. By the time enough people had sat down that there was finally no more elbow space or spare tables to yield, 13 people were sitting at the table including the blitzball co-captains Wakka and Tidus, the dance team captain Selphie, the cashier girl from McDonald's Rikku who was also president of the machine shop club, two senior cheerleaders named Yuna and Rinoa, and even Namine had joined them bringing along her bookworm friend Zexion. The table quickly became an incredible sight to see and the topic of many small conversations across the cafeteria as it now boasted at least one person from every typical high school clique, all of whom were among the most popular people in their respective cliques. Roxas had never felt like he belonged to a group more than he had before this moment, let alone a group with so many popular kids in it.
Eventually, Riku entered the cafeteria and went through the lunch line. Roxas watched as he walked towards his usual table and stopped about 10 feet away from it when he realized no one else was sitting at it. The silver-haired boy looked around until he finally noticed the bustling, crowded table that currently hosted all of his best friends and several more of his not as close friends. Riku's hands started trembling so badly that his milk carton fell over into his mashed potatoes causing bits of potato to splatter all over his food and the floor around him. Roxas could practically feel the waves of boiling rage emanating from Riku's glare as he sat down at the table alone. Fortunately, there was a beautiful, brown-haired distraction sitting right in front of him to ease his mind.
"Hey, look, Xion," Sora said as he nudged his sister in the arm. "There's Fuckface now."
"Damn, he looks pissed," Xion remarked smugly. "I know! Let's all give him 'the grimace'!"
The other eleven laughed and cheered at the idea while Roxas and Olette simultaneously asked, "What's 'the grimace'?"
"'The grimace' is the look you give someone when they know you screwed them over on purpose but you play it off as if you're innocent anyways," Tidus explained. "It's more of just a guilty smile than an actual grimace, but we figured 'the grimace' sounded cooler. It's, like, the ultimate fuck-you gesture."
That was all the two friends needed to hear to jump on board with the rest of the table. Roxas prepared the best guilty asshole expression he could as Xion counted to three with her fingers. On three, the entire table turned towards Riku with "the grimace" on each of their faces, some even shrugging their shoulders and putting their arms up in a what-are-you-gonna-do stance. Those who were still gossiping about the table laughed so loud at the group's collective gestures that it covered up most of whatever Riku was near-shouting in response as his face got redder and redder, but the parts that Roxas could make out were enough to compose a swear so violent it could instantly calm a charging bull. The blonde started laughing uncontrollably, causing the others to join in when they heard the reason for his laughter, and this laughter lasted all the way through the end of lunch.
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The group split up after leaving the lunch room, each member going to their next respective class. Roxas found out that he actually shared Hook's History class with Tidus and Yuna, the two of whom were actually dating each other, and lightly chatted with them throughout the captain's boring lecture on the Spanish Armada. Tidus, it turned out, would also be in the Struggle tournament the following day as an out-of-the-blue competitor considering no one knew he was a Struggler on top of his blitzball stardom. Yuna openly detested the fact that Tidus was involved in more than one sport involving some degree of violence but did nothing to abate her boyfriend's excitement to compete and see Roxas fight in the tournament as yet another dark horse.
When the bell rang, Hook finally yielded to the scattered zipping of backpacks by reluctantly ending his rant, and Roxas said goodbye to his two newfound friends and went off to join Namine and Xion in Gepetto's Art class. When he arrived at the room however, he found the two girls and everyone else in the class standing outside the door and looking at some note posted on it.
"What's all this about?" he asked when he got to where Xion and Namine were standing.
"Gepetto apparently had to leave early," Namine answered. "The note says that his puppet 'got up and ran away.' Clearly, some jerk stole it—"
"—which means that we get a free period!" Xion gleefully interrupted, earning herself an incredibly annoyed glare from the light blonde girl. "The note also says that we should 'formulate ideas on our artistic perspectives outside in the fresh air,' so I say we go down by the track and make fun of the jocks."
"While doing all that does sound nice," Namine began with her signature sarcastic tone on full power, "I personally would rather just draw in the library. You're both welcome to join me, but if you'd rather not, I'm sure Zexion or Mr. Vexen will be there to keep me company, so don't feel bad if you don't want to."
"Thanks for the offer Namine, but I'd rather get some fresh air," Roxas replied. "I can pick up the sketches sometime this weekend if that's fine with you."
"Sure," she said, dialing her tone back a hair, "but don't forget about them. We're almost done with the portfolio, and we need to have it turned in on Tuesday."
"No problem." As Namine left, Roxas turned to look at Xion. "You ready?"
Xion put on an excited smile. "What are we waiting for?"
The two teens traversed the crowd of art students to amicably make their way down to the track that surrounded the soccer field behind the school. The soccer team was there practicing with, much to Roxas's clandestine pleasure and slight confusion, Sora being the goalie. The boy's sweat made the sunlight glisten off the light-bronze skin not covered by his black tank top and silver athletic shorts, making him look like a freshly finished Michelangelo sculpture with real clothes and hair. The duo ascended the outlying bleachers sat down on the outlying bleachers where they found a sunbathing Olette (who had feigned sickness to avoid Mr. Clayton's biology class with Hayner) and decided to sneak up on her and scare her, causing her to jump and scream. The brunette's exclamation was loud enough to get Sora's attention who promptly smiled and waved upon noticing the three of them in the bleachers. This lead Coach Auron, the coach of practically every sport available at the school, to yell at Sora for allowing a shot to score while distracted by Roxas and company. The brunet pouted a little causing Roxas to sigh involuntarily (the sound of which was thankfully drowned out by a group of girls sitting at the very front of the bleachers who were sighing significantly more loudly) as he returned to his position in front of the goal.
"How many sports does Sora play exactly?" Roxas asked Xion.
"Just Struggle," Xion explained. "Practice for it is after school, though, so he helps the soccer team practice this period for his P.E. requirement."
"Huh, that's nice of him," Olette remarked. "I assume he has friends on the team?"
"Yeah, our friends Wakka and Tidus that you two met earlier today are on it," the black-haired girl noted as she pointed them out on the field.
"But I thought Wakka and Tidus were blitzball stars?" Roxas pointed out.
"They are, but where soccer is basically blitzball without the water and using only your feet, Auron wanted them to play soccer as well."
"I guess I wouldn't understand what would drive them to do more than one sport because I'm not athletic."
"If you're not athletic, then why are you signing up for the Struggle tournament tomorrow?" Xion and Olette laughingly asked almost simultaneously, although Olette was considerably smugger about it.
"Well, uhh, maybe I just, you know, wanted to follow in Cloud's footsteps or something," Roxas stammered, the volume of his voice growing quieter as Xion's and Olette's (mainly Olette's) giggling grew louder.
"How noble of you," Xion commented. "I just hope you have some amount of your brother's skill. Sora won't be afraid to wipe the floor with you just because you're a friend."
"We'll see about that."
"Oh, yes we will," jeered an unseen voice.
Seifer, Fuu, and Rai all came around the corner of the bleachers sneering and glaring at the trio in the bleachers (though Seifer faltered slightly upon seeing the death stare Olette was specifically giving him). "It appears that you didn't take our collective 'advice' from last time," the taller blonde continued, gesturing towards Roxas's right eye and midriff.
Olette had to be held back by the other two at this point, struggling to free herself and throttle the older boy. Roxas almost let her do it when Seifer started climbing the bleachers, but the brute reached them quicker than he anticipated, giving him an opening to push Olette back and grab Roxas by the collar so quickly that no one had any time to react. At least, that's what Roxas thought.
Almost as quickly as the older boy grabbed the younger one, Seifer relinquished Roxas and went rolling down the bleachers like a bowling ball on the side of a mountain. Roxas initially felt stunned and had to regain his breath and composure upon his release, but as he finally got a glimpse of the dazzlingly bronze, brown-haired savior that freed him form tormentor's grasp, he was so overwhelmed with emotion that he couldn't hold back the tears that were rapidly forming in his sapphire blue eyes.
"Hey, man, are you o—" Sora began but was interrupted when Roxas jumped up and abruptly hugged him, spilling tears all over the brunet's neck and torso. The blonde could feel his knight in shining armor embracing him back as he said "this must explain where all the bruises come from, eh?" Roxas only cried harder in response.
"Leonhart!" the pair heard a grizzly voice cry from the soccer field, startling them out of their embrace. "I can't kick you off the Struggle team for not participating during the soccer team's practice, but I CAN make sure you lose your Phys. Ed. credit!"
Auron was now climbing the bleachers slowly towards the two boys while Fuu and Rai more or less dragged Seifer away from the field. Once he was two rows away, Auron cleared his throat with a low gruff reminiscent of Cid and started to speak but was promptly interrupted by Olette nearly shouting "You can't punish them! That asshole deserved it!"
"Watch your language, Tanaka," Auron barked. "I don't intend on punishing either one of these two boys. For all I know, Almasy just happened to trip and fall down the bleachers." Roxas couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like the grizzled old man was winking at him from behind his sunglasses to where the other three couldn't see it. "However, I can't allow something like this to happen again. Understand, Leonhart?"
"Yes, Coach," Sora said with his head hung down. "I'll return to the goal now."
"Actually, I'd advise against that. Strife here seems shaken up a bit. You should take him and these two ladies to the cafeteria and convince the one of the cafeteria workers to give you all some sea salt ice cream, my treat. Yuffie would probably be your best bet."
The whole group perked up and stared at Auron, surprised by his incredible, unexpected gesture of kindness. "Thank you, Coach," they simultaneously said while bowing in gratitude.
Auron grunted and descended the bleachers towards the field. "Oh, and Strife," he said, turning his head back around, "I hear the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in your family as far as Struggle skill is concerned. I look forward to recruiting you for the team after the tournament tomorrow if I see your brother's bequeathed you the amount of his talent that I expect he has."
Roxas gulped. "Yes sir, Coach."
Auron chuckled lightly to himself and returned to the field while shouting for a kid named Nimrook to man the goal, leaving the four teens to head towards the cafeteria. Sora put his arm around Roxas's shoulder as they walked up the stairs to the front doors to which Roxas responded initially by putting his own arm around the brunet's waist but quickly removed it when he realized his hand accidentally brushed over the brunet's butt. Sora apparently didn't notice as his arm didn't budge until they reached the doors and opened them; still, there was an odd yet comfortable silence between the two in complete contrast to the excited chattering between the two girls in front of them that had been going on ever since the group had left the field.
They found the girl named Yuffie leaning on one of the lunch tables and looking bored out of her mind as she twirled her raven-black hair around her index finger. She perked up when she noticed the group walking towards her, particularly when she noticed Sora and Xion. "Heeeey, squirts!" she yelled across the cafeteria with a mischievous smile on her face.
"Hey, Yuffie," the twins responded with a hint of awkwardness in their voices.
"It's been a while since I've seen you two or Squall for that matter. How've you been?"
"Decent overall," Sora replied somewhat sheepishly, "but right now we need ice cream. Can you hook us up?"
"Hell yeah, I can," Yuffie answered with a ridiculously cheesy thumbs up and wink combo. "I gotta say, though, I don't know why you Leonharts think you can just waltz in here and take ice cream from me like you deserve it or something."
"Funny you mention that. Coach Auron said to put this round on his tab."
Yuffie groaned and rubbed her forehead. "That old fucker's tab's so high, I could afford to backpack across Europe if he paid it off all at once." The black-haired girl got up in a haughty manner and went back to the kitchen to retrieve the ice cream.
Roxas used this opportunity to lean over towards Sora and ask, "Exactly how do you all know her?"
"She's Leon and Aerith's best friend from childhood," Olette cut in before Sora could answer.
"Yeah, she's over at our place all the time playing video games and whatnot with Leon," Xion added on, looking both annoyed and amused. "Not to mention eating our food, using up our hot water—"
"You mean she's older than us?" Roxas interrupted.
"Is it really that much of a surprise to you?" Yuffie's smug voice said from behind the blonde, causing him to jump a little.
Roxas apologetically smiled, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, and gratefully accepted his ice cream as Yuffie gleefully handed out bars to each teen. "Be sure to hound Ol' Grizzly's ass for me until he actually pays the cafeteria what he owes," Yuffie slyly said.
"Hey, guys!"
Tidus came barreling through the cafeteria doors out of breath (followed shortly thereafter by Wakka who then handed Tidus a $5 bill and muttered something that sounded like "other trucker" under his breath). "We just heard that Selphie's throwing a huge last-minute party at her place tonight on the Islands to celebrate the dance team's victory earlier this week! Everyone's invited and everyone's going!"
"Sweet!" Sora and Olette excitedly replied while Roxas and Xion simply looked down awkwardly. Sora huffed in annoyance when he noticed their apathetic reactions. "Surely the two of you are gonna go right?"
Xion punched the brunet in the arm while Roxas took the more polite approach and said, "Parties aren't really my thing."
"I promise, it'll be fun," Sora pleaded. "For both of you," he added with contempt in his voice as he glared at his sister and rubbed his arm.
The blonde sighed in defeat, unable to resist the wishes of his beautiful, brown-haired savior. "What's the worst that could happen?"
Z~Z~Z
Roxas and Sora went back to the blonde's house so he could get ready for his short orientation while the two girls headed to the train station to go to the islands. Once preparations were made, the pair headed off to McDonald's where Sora waited in one of the big booth's talking to Zack while Louie led Roxas to the back where the training computer was. Louie gave Roxas a smug look when he noticed who the blonde walked in with but didn't say anything other than what he needed to concerning the training. The larger man then left, leaving Roxas alone with the ridiculously boring training programs and his thoughts.
The last week all still seemed so surreal. This time last Friday, he was anxiously awaiting getting his truck as he ate way too much birthday cake. In between now and then, he had made several friends (an impressive feat for him given his moderate social anxiety), made two close friends (even more impressive), made an enemy out of a rich kid, gotten a job, came out to his parents, got invited to a popular kid's party, and even had his first sleepover with a cute guy.
And what an amazing guy he was. This beautiful boy absentmindedly strolled into Roxas's life when he least expected it and dug all the way through him to make a permanent place in his heart all in a matter of six days. Sora was cute, kind, funny, charming, and with a great taste in music to boot. Not to mention, he threw one of Roxas's biggest daily problems down half a set of bleachers and got away with it. Sure, Roxas didn't believe violence was ever the answer, but there was no way in hell he would ever feel bad for Seifer finally getting what he deserved.
"You have now completed the required training. Please refer to your manager for questions or concerns."
Roxas looked at his phone, eyes widening in surprise when he realized two and a half hours had already passed. I can't believe these boring ass videos have kept me here for this long. The blonde left the office to find Louie who was complaining to another manager about the unusually slow day the restaurant was having.
"Oh, good, you've completed the training," he said when Roxas approached him. "Why don't you just go home for today? Business is slow, so I can't really teach you much without wasting product. You'll still get paid for four hours, though, I promise."
"Ok, cool. Thanks!"
Roxas practically skipped through the production area to find Sora napping in the booth he was in earlier, his face planted into the bun of a huge burger. The blonde pulled a Cloud and took numerous picture for blackmail's sake before prodding the adorable brunet in the shoulder twice. Sora rose slowly and with an odd grace despite blank, tired expression underneath the crumbs that were scattered across his face, uttering an equally drowsy "wuzzat?" before finally realizing that Roxas was ready to go. The two teens left the restaurant and headed off towards the train station in Roxas's truck.
You should say something to him. Roxas urged himself as he drove along with some punk band he didn't recognize setting the mood to a relaxed but fun tone. You've wanted to this whole time, even made a mission out of it, and yet, here you are. Say something, anything.
"So surely a big Struggle star like yourself has a romantic interest if not at least a girlfriend, eh?" Roxas said with the hint of a nervous stutter.
"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Sora replied with a smirk. "I dunno, man. Ever since Kairi and I tried dating, I just haven't found any of the girls at school to be interesting. It's not like I'm still hung up on Kairi; I just don't think I want to think about girls at this point in my life."
Roxas nervously swallowed. "Do you want to eventually be with someone, or do you think you'll spend the rest of your life alone?"
"Good question. I feel like I'll find someone eventually, but I'm personally not all that interested in seeking them out. If someone comes along and makes me think 'I need to get with this person now because I'll never have another chance like this,' then I'd probably try to have a relationship with them, but until then, I'm content just being a heartthrob."
Sora said the last part with a big smirk that turned into a beautifully devilish grin, the irony of his statement hitting Roxas like a ton of bricks. The brunet went on to say, "What about you, Blondie? Got a hot piece of ass you're swooning over?"
Again feeling the weight of the irony, Roxas slightly more nervously replied, "I think so. Maybe. I'm not sure really. I don't know if they'd be interested in me or not."
"Oh, surely they would. You're a good-looking guy, and you're an artist. Girls go crazy for the mysterious, broody artist types."
Roxas swooned upon hearing Sora's compliment causing the truck to swerve slightly and run over the rumble strip. The blonde panicked and corrected himself hard, getting back to the proper position in his lane but at the cost of sending everything free in the vehicle flying to the right and moderately throwing Sora against the passenger door. Despite the discomfort Roxas's driving should've caused him, the brunet started laughing hysterically and pointing at the blonde's shocked expression.
"You're a really antsy driver," he remarked, his laughter settling down.
"I suppose so," Roxas responded, grimacing at his own actions. "But no, even if all the girls were clamouring for my attention, I wouldn't know how to flirt with them. I don't even know where I'd start in expressing my interest in this person."
Sora rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I think all you really need is a boost in confidence. You pretty much have the personality to maintain a relationship of any kind once your walls come down; it's just getting your foot in the door that seems to be the problem. I remember how nervously you acted earlier this week when I first met you, and look at you now, having deep conversations with me. You just need to be like 'Hey, I'm Roxas, you're sexy, and we should do things and stuff together.'"
Roxas laughed at how corny the brunet's suggestion sounded. "Maybe I'll try that sometime."
The duo finally arrived at the train station. Fortunately, a train was about to leave for the Islands, so Sora and Roxas immediately boarded it and shot the breeze while it prepared to depart. They continued to shoot the breeze all the way until the train arrived at the Islands' main station where Xion and Olette were waiting in the parking lot in Raine's car ready to go to the party.
"Whoo!" Sora exclaimed. "Let's live it up!"
Z~Z~Z
The party had already started by the time the four teens got to it. Tidus, Wakka, and the crowd from lunch all welcomed them to their best of their abilities considering the huge sound system above the hardwood-floored foyer was already blasting some hip hop song Roxas didn't recognize. The enormous house was already packed to the brim with just about every young person in the Twilight-Destiny region, most of whom were sporting TTHS paraphernalia, as well as a number of students from Luca and Bevelle wearing their own towns' respective paraphernalia. Much to Roxas and Olette's despair though, Hayner was also there with Pence and was nervously eyeing the two of them from a distance as the two chatted on one of the foyer's twin staircases.
"God knows that ignorant douche is gonna try to make a move on you tonight," Olette sorrowfully moaned in Roxas's ear.
"Don't worry about it," Roxas lightly responded despite his nervous frown. "He seems like a nice enough guy, ulterior motives aside."
"You let people off the hook too easily, you pansy."
"Says the girl who had a crush on the guy to begin with."
"Are you two gonna party while you're here or not?" Sora said behind him to the pair as he grabbed a pair of neon sunglasses being passed around in a bowl.
The two shrugged to each other and grabbed sunglasses out of the bowl, but they nevertheless just followed Sora around as he talked to literally everyone at the party. Every now and then, Olette or Xion would stop and talk with someone they knew as well, but Roxas barely had anyone to talk to apart from the people he barely knew that sat with him at lunch earlier that day. Just when he thought he couldn't take any more third-wheeling, though, Namine tapped him on the shoulder and pulled him to the dance floor in the enormous ballroom/party room.
"You seemed somewhat out of place," Namine noted while the DJ was wrapping up the current song.
"And you thought I would fit in more here?" Roxas questioned with a smirk.
"You just need to let loose. This'll be good for you."
The DJ calmed down the crowd enough to announce the next song (some underground electro pop hit by a band he didn't recognize). As the song began at a fairly slow rhythm, Namine started doing some trance-like dance that looked incredibly out of place at a high school party; regardless, Namine continued her strange dance and encouraged Roxas to follow her lead. Roxas overcame his reluctance and mimicked her body's motion which picked up speed in pace with the song. Before he knew it, Roxas was full-on dancing his ass off and drenching his forehead and back with sweat alongside an equally fervent Namine, both of them with big goofy smiles on their faces. The two had picked up so much attention from those around them that they had effectively created their own little circle of fans that were half admiring the pair's free spirits and half avoiding being hit in the face by a stray limb. Finally, the song ended, and Roxas and Namine received a small round of applause as they headed toward the kitchen in search of refreshments.
They met up with Zexion in the kitchen who shortly thereafter took Namine away to look at some painting upstairs. Roxas hung around in the kitchen drinking from a soda can and sampling all of the snacks until Hayner came out of nowhere and approached him.
"Hey, Roxas, right?" he asked shyly.
"Don't you already know the answer to that?" Roxas answered awkwardly.
"Well, yeah, I guess. I'm just trying to take the formal approach to this."
"I guess I appreciate it."
"Yeah. So, umm, you're gay, right?"
Roxas simply looked at the dirty blonde, now fully annoyed with how much he was beating around the bush. Hayner looked away and bit his lip. "I'm sorry, I probably seem like such a dumbass right now."
"Well, you're not totally wrong about that."
"Dammit, let me start over: hey, Roxas, what's up? I'm Hayner."
God, this is probably what I was like around Sora. Fine, I guess I'll give him a chance. "Hi, Hayner."
"So what do you do for fun?"
Their conversation continued on to cover all the typical get-to-know-someone topics. Somewhat in tune with his initial behaviour, Hayner seemed like an okay person albeit a bit misguided; however, Roxas's behaviour didn't get any less platonic especially as Hayner subtly tried again and again to make a move. A couple of times, Hayner offered to get him a drink from the (presumably spiked) punch bowl which Roxas refused. Each rejection made Hayner noticeably more desperate until he eventually directly spiked Roxas's soda with a drug when the blonde was distracted by a nearby game of root beer pong. When Roxas next took a drink, he barely registered a difference in the taste of his drink but soon after got lightheaded and dizzy as he took more drinks. Hayner then lead the blonde up to one of the house's guest bedrooms and shut the door.
"Hayner, wuzz goin' on, man?" Roxas mumbled as he stumbled and plopped down on the bed.
Hayner didn't answer and instead went straight for a kiss as he slowly wrapped his arms around Roxas's neck and torso, grabbing a handful each of the blonde's hair and ass. Fuck, what the hell is happening? Roxas knew he didn't want this to happen but was too blitzed and tired from dancing to object, so he just lay there as the dirty blonde continued to do whatever he wanted. Hayner pulled the blonde's shirt off and started stroking his lightly toned, hairless chest while kissing his neck. Roxas involuntarily moaned and cried a bit as his body was invaded by this guy he barely knew. He summoned all of his willpower and tried to yell for help as he attempted to push Hayner off of him, but Hayner easily overpowered him and forced him back on the bed saying, "Ah, you want it a bit rougher, huh?" The dirty blonde pulled out a rope from his pocket and tied Roxas's hands together above his head and then pulled off one of Roxas's socks and gagged him with it. Hayner then started undoing Roxas's belt and pants as the blonde cried harder and was about to pull them off when the door opened revealing someone Roxas couldn't identify with Hayner on top of him. Whoever it was stood there apparently in shock at the preliminary rape scene in front of them as Hayner looked over his shoulder and loudly asked, "What the fuck do you want?"
"Get the hell off of him, you sick fucker!" a harsh yet angelic voice yelled back as the person threw Hayner off of Roxas. For the second time that day, Sora had appeared out of nowhere to be Roxas's savior. The brunet took the sock out of Roxas's mouth and untied him as Hayner scurried out of the room. Sora got up and slammed the door behind the dirty blonde while Roxas stumbled off the bed to pick up his shirt off the floor and put it back on. Sora led the blonde back to the bed and attempted to put his arm around him to comfort him, but Roxas immediately flinched at his touch and smacked the brunet's hand away a bit harder than he meant to.
"Are you o—," Sora began but was cut off by Roxas holding up a hand to silence him.
""I'm sorry I hit you, but please, I need a moment to process this."
Roxas sat there in silence for several minutes attempting to collect himself. Sora tried talking to him and physically comforting him several times during this period, but each time, he was shot down until he settled for just sitting in silence with the blonde as a form of support. Roxas had been shaky and jumpy ever since his assault took place, and his vision was still cloudy from the drug, but he could feel himself slowly returning to normal (If I can call this normal. If I can call anything after this normal.) with every breath he took. Eventually, the blonde moved his hair out of his face and sighed, feeling he owed his crush some return for saving him and continuing to comfort him. "Sora," he began.
"Yeah?" the brunet answered worriedly.
Roxas hesitated, but before he knew it, he was crying and blurting out "this all happened because I'm gay, and Hayner wanted to experiment with me, but I wasn't willing to do anything with him, and I should've told you about my sexuality sooner, and I apologize for that, but please don't think badly of me for it or what just happened.
The blonde flinched after he had finished anticipating some amount of backlash but was a little surprised, however, to see Sora staring at him in apparent disbelief instead of disgust or horror. "I appreciate the honesty," his crush began, "but I'm not focused on your sexuality right now. Hayner was just…assaulting you, man. I mean, uh, your identity is valid, and I fully accept it as a part of who you are, but the main thing I'm focused on right now is that you were almost raped by that creep. Even if your sexuality did bother me, I'd still be more concerned with seeing if you're okay."
Roxas smiled just a tiny bit through his tears. "Thank you for that, but what I need right now is Olette. Please just find Olette for me."
Sora started to object but stopped himself and got up to go find her. Roxas went through multiple phases of crying then trying to tough it out and not show any emotion then crying again and so on until Olette finally entered the room and sat down next to the blonde. She hugged him tightly, laid his head against her shoulder, and consoled him for several minutes until Roxas finally mentioned that he wanted to leave. Olette consented on the conditions that he go to Sora's house and that she, Sora, and Xion left with him. He eventually although reluctantly agreed, so she left to gather the twins.
Well, isn't this just perfect, Roxas moped silently. My personal space has been grossly violated, I outed myself to my crush in the absolutely most awkward and uncomfortable way possible, and to top it off, I once again made myself look stupid and vulnerable to everyone around me.
No, no, no, you're looking at it all wrong, said a different voice in his head that sounded strangely familiar even though he'd never heard it before. Yeah, you were just assaulted, and that really sucks. However, you no longer have to worry about coming out to Sora, and he's proven once again that he'll go over the moon to protect you and make you feel safe. I think you have an actual shot with him.
You know, I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but shut the fuck up, Roxas retorted. I have every right to feel depressed, guilty and ashamed because I'm a victim, and I don't need your optimistic bullshit right now. Let me feel bad about what happened to me.
With that, the other voice in his head left Roxas alone, and he sat there in absolute silence until the other three came to get him. Sora offered the blonde his hand and helped him up off the bed, but apart from that, all three made sure not to make bodily contact with him even after they got into Raine's car and drove back to the twins' house. The teens immediately exited the vehicle, Sora grabbing his and Roxas's bags and Xion grabbing the door, and entered the house as quietly as possible to not disturb Laguna who evidently was in his man cave catching up on some College Struggle League games as indicated by the light and sounds coming from behind the basement door. Xion and Olette made to enter Sora's room with the boys, but Roxas protested, so they bade the two boys goodnight as they passed Xion's room, leaving Sora and Roxas to enter the brunet's room in an awkward silence. They changed clothes, neither one showing any sign of caring about being half naked in front of the other at the moment, and Roxas started making a makeshift bed for himself on the floor when Sora stopped him and invited him to share his bed. Roxas silently but gratefully accepted and got in the bed trying to stay as far away from Sora's side as possible, but as he lay there simmering in his depression, he desperately longed for someone to just hold him and make him feel better. Without realizing it, he slowly, subconsciously moved closer to Sora until their feet bumped into each other underneath the covers. The brunet was still awake, though, and he gently one-arm hugged the blonde after silently taking note of the significantly reduced distance between him and the half-asleep blonde. Soon thereafter, both boys drifted off into sleep, each wishing to stay with the other but desperate to see what their respective dream figures had in store for them this night.
Z~Z~Z
Chapter Epilogue II
Z~Z~Z
The figure had apparently been waiting for the boy once again but was now sitting in an ornate chair that hadn't been in any of the previous dreams. It had a book in one hand with something eye catching on the cover that the boy couldn't fully make out and a candle in the other hand to illuminate the pages against the nighttime background of the beach. The boy wasn't sure why it was no longer twilight given that it was the first time his dream had ever been at any other time of the day as far as he knew, but the night sky was so beautifully lit in every colour by the billions of stars and galaxies that ebbed and flowed in beautiful, curvy patterns. The boy didn't really care, though. He was more focused on and, to some degree, annoyed by the apparent nonchalance of the figure as it had been sitting in the same position without moving in the slightest ever since the boy got there.
Speak. I know you can now, so you might as well not hide that from me anymore.
Unsurprisingly, the figure just continued to sit there reading away.
Seriously? This again? When are you ever going to give me an actual hint as to why you keep showing up here?
The figure closed its book and got up from the chair which instantly disintegrated into coral coloured dust that was swept away by the sweet, warm ocean breeze.
Ah, am I finally going to get some answers then? About damn time.
The figure calmly walked over and handed the book to the boy, showing him the cover. There were no words on it; instead, the entirety of the cover was taken up by a beautifully intricate stained glass design. The most startling things about the image were the two figures that were on either side of the center of the design: one was the boy himself asleep in a position that made him look like he was floating in space, and the other was clearly supposed to be whoever the mysterious figure whose features were unfortunately just as indistinguishable on the cover as they were in 3D. The centerpiece itself was also interesting in how it appeared to be five flower buds from the paopu tree stitched together to form a star shape and in how both the boy and the figure on the cover seemed to be subconsciously reaching out for it.
This is you on the cover, isn't it? What does that mean? How are you related to me? What is this book about?
The boy didn't even wait to see if the figure provided any kind of answer as he flipped through the pages of the book and found each one of them to be blank. The only marks were just on the inside of the cover where there was a note saying "This book is the property and story of _ and _." with no names in the blanks.
Does this book belong to me?
Though the figure didn't move or speak at all, the boy's name appeared in one of the blanks, clearly intended to be an answer to the boy's question.
Okay, that's cool. Who's the other person?
But the figure was no longer there. Instead, the boy found a coral pink piece of paper hidden in the very back of the book that answered his question in the form of a poem:
A tome of glass as fresh as the dew
On the garden of sweet Lady Nyx
Is but a table with reservations for two
One of whom is late to the mix
This volume can't be read, written, or reviewed
Until the late member arrives
And the two authors become one in faith renewed
United for the rest of their lives
Z~Z~Z
So as you likely noticed, I used the whole chapter epilogue thing again. I'm not saying I'm gonna use it often or that it'll only be reserved for the dream scenes, but I received a lot of positive feedback from the first one, so you can probably expect to see it crop up a few more times. Also, I'm curious to know your opinions on how this is my longest chapter yet. Do you think it's too long, or should it be longer? Does the length even matter as long as the content is of a high enough caliber? As always, please let me know your thoughts on this and any part of this (particularly dark) chapter in the reviews. Thank you so much for reading!
